Well I don't think there are top guys and then Benn, I think there's Dez Bryant who will probably still go top 5 or top 10, and then there's Arrelious Benn...for Miami. I think he would be their top WR target after Dez. That doesn't mean we'll draft him in the first round, wherever we end up. But I do believe Benn would be the second highest rated guy on their board at the position, right now. I think this position in general is ripe for them to spend some on it in free agency, or acquire someone in trade. I say that because they invested 3rd & 4th round picks on young players and I'm sure they'll want to give them a chance to do right. But then again, you look at the Giants and they might be someone to pattern after. There was the big question in light of Plaxico's fall from grace, what should they do at WR? You name him, and a trade for the guy was being considered, be it Braylon Edwards, Anquan Boldin, etc. They had invested draft picks in Steve Smith and Mario Manningham, had some other guys show up solid like Domenik Hixon and Sinorice Moss. So they head into the draft and grab Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden a year after drafting Mario Manningham in the 3rd (he did next to nothing in 2008, much like Pat Turner) and two years after drafting Steve Smith (who did nothing his rookie year and then had typical slot type production in his second year). That has worked out really well for them. Now they've got this three-headed receivers unit that makes all kinds of plays. Antonio Bryant to me is the elephant in the room as far as free agents go. There is no way the Bucs will franchise him again, and I'm pretty sure he wants out of Tampa. I'm also pretty sure he'd be willing to give it a second whack with Bill Parcells, especially since Tuna is just an overseer now and not the head coach. I think that news that Tuna texts Bryant through other coaches things like "Keep it up" and stuff was big, and a clear indication of where Bryant's most likely landing point is next off season. If I had my way we would go ahead and sign Antonio Bryant, then draft someone with a pretty high pick. I don't know if you can get Rejus in the second round but if you can, that to me would be the best course of action. If Miami has some miraculous turnaround and gets a lower first round pick around the same area they drafted Vontae Davis, then that might even be an appropriate spot for Rejus to be drafted...but it would depend heavily on who else is available. You get two new guys in there and then go to camp with all seven of them, let the chips fall how they may. You never know which guys will turn up well but I think if you bring a couple of new faces in along with the young guys that are developing, you're assured that enough of them will turn up to actually field an offense.
I'd be happy with Benn in rd 2 or late rd 1 (depending on who is there). I'd also love to have us bring Bryant in via FA.
Personally I think they'd be just as happy with Golden Tate as they would with Benn. He does everything that Benn does, he just does it better.
Anyone catch Aaron Hernandez scoring 2 TDs against FSU, especially the second one? Could be a nice target as our playmaking TE in the 2nd-3rd rounds... The Gators' triple option with Hernandez coming underneath the OLine for the shovel while Tebow runs the option with Demps/Rainey is a thing of beauty. Not that it is an NFL style play, but if I was calling plays for the Titans I'd absolutely run it next week against the Colts with VY, Chris Johnson, and Bo Scaife. Very scary playcall.
Any thoughts on Demaryius Thomas the GT Wr? http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=66875&draftyear=2011&genpos=WR
That last TD he did was awesome. Kid has great vision and speed. In the books it was a 28yrd TD but he made it 50yrd juking the D and going back and forth i havent seen much of him but Is he the Percy Harvin of this draft?
Physically he looks amazing, and he can definitely go up and get the ball. He's obviously a willing blocker too. It is extremely difficult to evaluate him though (IMO) due to the offense he plays in. I'm sure the last pass he had go his way Saturday wouldn't have endeared him to many people here had they actually watched the game.
I'll take Rejus Benn's hands, eyes and body over Golden Tate's any day. If Benn had Tate's creativity with the ball in his hands, or his fight, he'd be a top 5-10 prospect.
Other than the fact that he blew the Georgia game? Not that he is a bad WR, but we really need a WR that can come through in the clutch
To me Golden Tate is a less consistent Steve Smith (the Panther, not the Giant). He does have good eyes, and good hands, and good acceleration, and an overall willingness to do what it takes. The ball is his when it's in the air and he attacks it. But, he body catches it a lot too. And if you were to tally his overall percentage of pulling down passes that he was able to get his hands on, I'm not sure you'd be that impressed with the number. You see Hines Ward in his game, I look at him and it's like I'm watching Steve Smith in a different uniform. I like Rejus Benn though. He's not the fighter that Tate is. But, he doesn't have to be, because he's more talented.
He's not as quick as Harvin. What I like about him is that he runs precise routes, has good hands, is as tough as old boots, uses his body well to frame defenders off the ball, is fearless across the middle and moves the chains. He does remind me of Hines Ward. You add in his ability after the catch and his ability as a return man and you have a very talented individual, who, on a winning team, would be garnering serious Heisman consideration. Plus he has the coolest name in the draft.
Go back and look at some of Tate's games and specifically the USC game. On his 2nd touchdown catch he gets wiped out by a killshot from Taylor Mays. The sort of hit that would knock Ted Ginn back to Ohio State. Tate is knocked silly right? Wrong. Mays goes to the turf like he's been hit by the proverbial truck. Tate goes to the endzone like the stud he is. The South Bend Tribune ran a photo on the morning after the game with Tate looking back at Mays with the caption: 'Is that all you have?'. Captured it brillianty. This is a kid who was criticised after a pair of drops against Michigan and spent 3 hours a night after class with a jugs machine in the relative darkness. And Chris makes a fair point about the number of times a 5'11 wideout doesn't come down with a jump ball. I'd counter that by saying how often do you see Hines Ward going for jump balls? I think if that's a perceived weakness, then you don't play to it. Personally he can run every route and is a hell of a player.
What I like about him is he comes from a running offense and would figure to be a better than average blocker downfield. BTW, Sparano announced Garner is the starter even if Smiley is healthy, so it would also figure that we will be shopping for a Guard this Cycle.
I didn't see the game but whatever he screwed up must have been pretty bad for him to be labeled as a guy who can't come through in the clutch. Thomas has fantastic size at about 6-3, 230 and he'll go up and get the ball. His speed looks pretty good, not great. His numbers are great and to me he has the look of a big target who can be a good NFL WR. What I've seen of him I like a lot. If there is a concern, imo it's that he doesn't have- or maybe I should say I haven't seen- a suddenness or explosion in him out of his cuts. Two guys I think about a lot in that regard are Jerry Rice and Dwayne Bowe. Rice was about a 4.7 guy, but when he cut he was gone. Bowe- maybe a 4.55 guy, and a big one at about 6-2, 225. But he had that quality, too, and for better or worse it's one that I value highly- he explodes out of his cuts. I'd rather have that than a 4.4 guy who rounds off his routes. I still wish that we traded for Bowe, preferably with Ginn included in the deal. Benn has explosion, Tate has it, Gilyard is a smaller guy who has it, I was able to see some in the Cincinnatti Illinois game Saturday. Demaryious Thomas- I like the guy quite a bit, but not so sure about his suddenness or explosion. Danario Alexander- putting up monster numbers but from what I've seen of him I'm thinking Pat Turner or Brandon London. I would guess that we focus early on Benn and Tate, assuming that Bryant is gone. IMO Gilyard in the second would be a big step up form Ginn, but he is a smaller guy- it's hard not to look at Benn and think that he has stud potential. He's a big, fast dude and he looks the part. Hopefully he'll show more of what he's got in the Senior Bowl when he doesn't have Juice Wiliams and Ron Zook weighing him down.
D. Thomas flat out dropped a pass with nobody around him on 4th and 10 of the final drive. Not that I'm against drafting him, he does have size and the mention of his blocking prowess was a good point, but I just think we need playmakers and I don't necessarily see him as being that. With that said, we also need a WR with size so I'd gladly welcome him, but I'd still feel as though we'd need a Gilyard/Tate type as well as a pass catching TE
Hello All; initial post here as I had just recently found out about the forum. I tedn to agree with the notion that Antonio Bryant will be a Dolphin next season. Bill Parcells drafted him in Dallas and he is exactly the type of player we need. Of course I like Vincet Jackson in San Diego but slim chance they let him leave but keep an eye on Malcolm Floyd who is a free agent as well. In terms of the draft I think they would fancy Dez Bryant who will be gone before they pick and Arrelious Benn would be ideal in Round 2 but for me the two biggest position we need to address in the off-season are Nose Tackle and Middle/Inside Linebacker. In Round 1 we should target either Brandon Spikes or Rolando McClain should he declare. Walking away with one of these guys than looking at a Ricky Sapp or Jerry Hughes in Round 2 could really get this team where they need to be. Nose Tackle is another need with Jason Ferguson walking that line to retirment so players such as Cam Thomas, Book Robinson, D'Anthony Smith, or Phil Taylor in Round 4ish could be very good selections. After watching yesterday's loss to the Bills I am done with Channing Crowder's laziness and lack of hustle; in a similar thought I am convinced Paul Soliai isn't our future at Nose Tackle. He can be a guy used for depth but the guy gets winded way too easily.
I think a guy like Demaryius Thomas in Round 2 could make some sense. I love watching Golden Tate and indeed he reminds me of Carolina's Steve Smith but I don't think he is the type of receiver covet. I see Davone Bess and Brian Hartline as keepers and the jury is still our on Patrick Turner but Ted Ginn Jr. has to go and I am not impressed by Greg Camarillo. Sure he works hard and runs solid routes but he shouldn't see the field as a starting receiver on any team in the league. This off-season is very important to our team as getting the correct weapons surrounding Chad Henne is very important. With that said I come away very impressed with Chad Henne thus far as he seems like the guy we have been seeking for a very long time.
I love our current Defensive End rotation with Randy Starks, Phil Merling, and Kendall Langford but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by Cameron Heyward from Ohio State. This guy can really penetrate and creates a great pass rush for someone who could transition into a 3-4 defensive end. Where do you guys think he goes? Round 2?
Hi, good first post. The WR dilemma is tricky- I could see D Thomas in the 2nd rd, but part of me is locked on to Benn in the 1st because he is, potentially, the entire package of what we need as a true #1- he could clean up a lot of problems and issues. As always there's opportunity cost- the cost of passing on Benn and not getting a fast go to guy with size, strenght and explosion as well. And the opportunity cost of taking Benn and passing on a solid defensive player at a need position. My preference would be Benn #1 and DT Dan Williams at #2. But if we took LBs Spikes or MClain #1 and Golden Tate #2 I'd be ok with that. I'm curious to see more of Desmond Briscoe, he kind of pops out at you on film.
Finished up watching that Stanford game since my last post. If it were possible for me to be even more impressed with Tate than I was already, then I am. What a game he had. What I liked about him apart from all the other things I've mentioned previously is that he drops an early touchdown and then 2 plays later scores but did you see the TD drop? Did you see the way he beat press, got around the corner and on top of the route and the acceleration from when he's a step down and turning to see the ball in the air to when he's in the endzone 5 strides later and a yard ahead. He also goes up for two deep rainbows and comes down with both, one for 78 bills in double coverage and the third touchdown back across the formation was a thing of beauty. He's Ward, he's Boldin. He's damn good. Jimmy Clausen was pretty damn good as well. That might have been the best game I've seen him have. His deep out to the wide side of the field is a thing of beauty. Once again Sergio Brown missed too many open field tackles for ND. Was impressed with their young tailbacks and the LG, #59. For the Cardinal...wow there's some great freshman talent around. Watched the Williams kid for Va Tech and then saw Luck again. Him and Tom Savage. Wow. Marecil at FB is a white Lou Polite whilst I was really impressed again with Jim Dray the senior tight end. Coming off the knee injury from a year ago, he's a very good in line blocker but a smooth athlete in space with super soft hands. As for Gerhart, he deserves the Heisman. He's such an interesting prospect. He's a downhill talent who doesn't have great cutback ability or Chris Johnson type creation, but for a slow guy, he has an awful lot of success running slow developing stretch plays. Every time I see him play I wonder how they run so many stretches and how he gains so many yards. He never, ever goes down on first contact and he always falls forwards. What he does really well is have quick feet and quick vision to just shift creases with no loss of pace. He's very balanced and decisive in the hole. He also has very good hands. What will go against him is his average pass protection ability. Guys like Hillis and Hester and Alstott and even Brad Muster were better in pass protection, even if Toby is a better pure runner. I for one will be fascinated to see where he ends up. What a great game as well.
I really don't know his work. He just kind of pops out at me on film. Same things that I keep looking for- suddenness, explosion. Looks like he has good size and straight line speed, too.
Getting a better look at Danario Alexander now. He's kind of got me thrown off a bit. Pretty good after the catch. No way in heck do I believe he's 6'5" with a 47" vertical as they claim. Anymore than Sean Witherspoon is 250 lbs and runs a 4.45 in the 40. Something about Danario's attitude is putting me off. He seems like a give up player. He tries hard when the circumstances favor him.
LOL. I didn't notice! Much as I've always liked Brent Musberger, I was convinced that Notre Dame's freshman running back who fumbled on their first possession and who was returning kicks had the first and middle names of 'The Young'. I thought that there are some pretty crazy names in college football, but being christened 'The Young' was probably taking the cake! BTW - #59 is Chris Stewart the senior left guard for Notre Dame. Speaking of Irish linemen, how badly has Sam Young regressed?
Almost certainly mate, but I also think Tate would put up Benn numbers with Juice Williams throwing to him, so......
Benn's been hampered a lot this year by that ankle. Got hurt in the first series of the first game against Mizzou. Even all the way to the Cincinnati game it seemed like he was more decoy than anything else. He seemed to have his explosion back, he was getting open, but they just weren't looking for him. He might stay in school. They say that Illinois have offered a scholarship to his younger brother. That could be a big draw for him to stay in school. Plus with Charlie Weis gone, and Clausen/Tate more likely to come out, along with Dez Bryant's coming out, eventually Benn might decide that if he can come back for a senior year and return to sophomore form, he could go real high in the draft as opposed to in the second round.
The issue of Benn vs Tate is a good one and especially interesting since Tate has been playing lights out recently. I'm looking at it in terms of a horse race metaphor: say that you've got to choose between two thoroughbreads and they both look great and have good track records, but one is seriously weighted down. The one who is statistically superior is the smaller horse who runs his heart out, and the bigger horse has shown heart but has been a little injured and his jockey and trainer suck. Nonetheless his size is nearly perfect and he oozes talent, and he has performed very well in the past (in this case last year). Which horse do you choose? How would this larger horse perform in your stable with a better jockey on board and a better trainer? What happens when those metaphorical weights- namely the ankle injury, Juice Williams and Ron Zook- are taken off and the two horses run unhindered side by side? Sort of a crappy metaphor I know, but I'm becoming a bigger fan of Tate by the week- who wouldn't be the way that he's producing at WR and on kick returns. I also heard him speak on ESPN this morning- he's well spoken to the point of it being noticeable. But despite Tate' attributes and production, it's hard not to notice and take a shining to what Benn has to offer- size, strength, speed, burst, and from what I've seen (including some running plays) some drive, determination and a nose for the endzone. Benn brings what we need- that size, that speed, that ability to separate and generate YAC. It's all there. And I'll confess that after the last few weeks I'm thinking damn, Tate looks mighty good, good enough to maybe choose over Benn. Tate has all of the above qualities but isn't as big as Benn- I acknowledge that. But at the end of the day, and I'll confess that part of this is the eyeball test- I see Benn as a tonic for what ails us, specifically for what is so drastically lacking in our wide receiver corps. This is one big, fast dude. And it's not all about size and speed by a long shot- but as an example Andre Johnson- he's a great receiver, but would he be as special if he wasn't so damn big and fast? I don't think so. I like Golden Tate quite a bit, but between the two of them I'll cast my vote for Arrelious Benn.
Nice post Jim. I'm not ready to sign off on Benn as Secretariat just yet though. And there's plenty of big and fast dudes who haven't made an impact when all's said and done.
I think the emergence of Tate could play into our favor. I think Benn could fall into our laps in the early part of Round 2. I think we will be drafting in the 12-15 range and could see Benn falling. Dez Bryant, Damien Williams, Golden Tate, Mardy Gilyard, and Brandon LaFell seem to be ranked higher by most. Five Receivers (Hewary-Bey,Crabtree, Maclin, Harvin, Britt) went in Round 1 last season and only two went in Round 2 (Robiskie and Massoqui). I guess my point is that if some of these guys can emerge ahead of Benn it could be good for us. Leaving the first two rounds with Rolando McClain and Arrelious Benn would make me very happy. Two very good players, two big needs, and than we could find a Nose Tackle in the next couple of rounds like Boo Robinson (Wake Forest), D'Anthony Smith (L. Tech), Cam Thomas (North Carolina), or Phil Taylor (Baylor)
That's a fair assessment. But Benn has made an impact, just not this year, and there's the rub. If I recall correctly he was a pre season favorite for Big Ten player of the year and he's been considerd a superior talent and producer since his Dunbar High days. He's been a thoroughbread all along, and then this year- ankle injury, Juice and Zook. So his stock is down, so to speak. But he did have over 1,000 yards last year, although it would have been nice to see him score more during his career. As you mentioned earlier, what if their situations were reversed? Benn might have lit it up with Claussen and Weiss running the show, and maybe Tate would have done better than Benn has this year if he were stuck with Juice and Zook. Who knows. Tate has a world of talent, but the one thing that really makes me think in comparing the two (besides the obvious size difference that I've been railing on) is that Tate is such a gamer. It's not that Benn doesn't play hard, but there's something special aboout how Tate gets after it, and i'd say that he's my third favorite WR now after Bryant and Benn. I'll be happy if we get either one, but that being said I prefer Benn. It's just a gut instinct and potential call, and I know that those are sketchy at best.
He's incredibly talented, which is what I think the original list was basing their rankings on. However, his other issues overshadow his talent.
I like gilyard, cat's got very quick hips, and adjusts them at fullspeed, he can house it...good hands to, good returner because of the way he attacks a field and uses those explosive hips.
